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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. fine — all right
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. file — a tool
  8. bear — the animal
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. file — a document
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. scale — in music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spring — of water
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com